4 ms·

Free lunch ? Or do they want equity ? Can't leave Chile for X years ? Must have headquarters there ?

by smogzer 15y ago

andrewcooke 15y ago
there's more discussion at http://www.quora.com/Startups-in-Chile/Would-you-develop-your-startup-in-Chile-if-the-Chilean-government-financed-your-company-with-40-000-USD http://www.quora.com/Startups-in-Chile/Would-you-develop-you... but in short there aren't that many catches - certainly no equity (i would guess that people here in chile realise 40k really isn't that much in american terms; the payoff is in the numbers and the culture, not taking a stake in your particular business) [edit: also, getting a visa here is not hard. you don't need to win that grant to come here. i arrived on a tourist visa (3 months, renewable to 6), got a job offer, and within a week of the offer had permission to work. and none of that was illegal. do bring some kind of certificate indicating your level of education, though(!)]
- icey 15y ago
  Could you share some of your experiences working in Chile? Where did you move there from? Did you already know Spanish? Have you enjoyed living & working there?
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - andrewcooke 15y ago
    [having problems with hn slow response] see http://www.quora.com/Hows-life-in-Santiago-Chile http://www.quora.com/Hows-life-in-Santiago-Chile for more background. i am here because my partner is a chilean academic with tenure here. in general, it's a good place to live. personally, i am not the most outgoing or relaxed person on the planet, and sometimes living in a different culture - and it could be any other culture - gets to me. but the only negative thing i can think of about living here is that the work culture in large companies (my first job) emphasizes hours over productivity. if i were coming here to run a startup i would use a more results-oriented working environment (i don't care if you work at home, but you fucking get stuff done) as an incentive. a lot of people really hate the enforced long hours. you need to speak spanish. but people will be friendly and tolerant when you screw up. you can learn while you are here. a chilean lover is as good a way to learn as any ;) PS - just thought of a negative (as i went outside). the winter air quality in santiago is terrible. if you have asthma you don't want to be coming here. another negative would be the differences in wealth, although i imagine that's more shocking to a european than an american (i have no idea why i am paying such low taxes compared to europe - why isn't more of what i earn being used to help the poorest people here?). PPS - some positives: good food (you have no idea how good a hot-dog can be); good beer (really - it's exploded the last few years with a bunch of micro-breweries); a more entrepreneurial attitude than europe; a more sane social attitude than the usa; low crime rate (despite what people here seem to think...)
    - bugsy 15y ago
      Should be noted, the taxes in Chile are not only lower than Europe, they are also lower than in the US unless you are a member of the ultra elite rich that has a team of tricky accountants who shuffle assets to remote islands to make sure you don't pay your share. How can they do it? Well they don't maintain a global imperialist war machine that costs trillions to maintain, nor do they give away trillions to criminal bankers.
      - andrewcooke 15y ago
        heh. that happens here too. i had someone come round trying to sell me some off-shore banking services here in chile. the "salesman" was the son of an english diplomat. i am from "normal" english stock. it was a socially uncomfortable meeting.
      - econgeeker 15y ago
        I don't have an authoritative source, but I recently read that Chile assesses: - Up to %40 income taxes - A form of social security taxes - taxes capital gains as income - %17 corporate taxes - %19 VAT Taxes (might have that and corporate reversed) and, the piece de resistance: - a %35 excise tax on taking money out of the country!
        andrewcooke 15y ago
        tax on earnings are listed here - http://www.sii.cl/aprenda_sobre_impuestos/impuestos/imp_directos.htm http://www.sii.cl/aprenda_sobre_impuestos/impuestos/imp_dire... - and the 40% rate applies to earnings over $12,500 a month (it's banded). there are also incentives for investment that count against that (so you invest the money in a pension fund, say, then that lowers your effective wage for tax purposes, i think (not completely sure)). the 35% tax is described here - http://www.sii.cl/portales/inversionistas/imp_chile/impuesto_adicional.htm http://www.sii.cl/portales/inversionistas/imp_chile/impuesto... - and applies to earnings of people who don't live or have residence in chile. so it wouldn't apply to someone under this grant. also, it's not in addition to other taxes (so it's 18% over VAT, if that would have been charged - again, this is just from skimming the docs). [edit: you need to translate the fourth paragraph to understand the "additional" nature. here's a link in english http://www.thisischile.cl/frmContenidos.aspx?SEC=187&ID=1242&itz=&eje=Negocios http://www.thisischile.cl/frmContenidos.aspx?SEC=187&ID=... that says This tax applies to those who are neither residents nor residing in Chile and ranges between zero and 35% on total revenue depending on the type of income (e.g., for services, royalties, interest, transportation payments, insurance, capital gains, and dividend distributions). In the case of utilities, the “First Category” tax can apply as a credit towards the additional tax.] in general, chilean laws and taxes are all described online. you don't need to post uninformed speculation - you can search for the details. disclaimer: i just skimmed the links, and am no expert, so my summary may be incorrect.
iamelgringo 15y ago
$40k grant. Free as in beer. No equity. They want you to move to Chile for 6 months, and go to some events and meet some people while you're down there.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
almost 15y ago
Apparently there's a pretty horrible form to fill out, but that's about it. I know a couple of people out there at the moment and it sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
herval 15y ago
they get you 40k and u have to put in 4k from your own pocket (the 40k are in the form of reimbursements - u spend something, they give u back in the following month). U have to spend the 40k during the 6 months (can't spend it all in one month for instance) and of course, you have to spend it in business-related stuff, like salaries, software, marketing, etc (they won't reimburse coffee or if you buy a car!) The contract you sign is very clear: there are no strings attached apart from having to keep someone here for 6 months and presenting reports to get the reimbursements. So it's no "free lunch" - it's just a great example of what governments could (and should) be doing with their money. It fosters innovation, that alone is a huge return of investment for the country.. disclaimer: I'm in StartupChile's first class of 2011 (Novelo team from Brazil) and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I'd be here even if they offered ZERO dollars!
- dmvaldman 15y ago
  What's to stop you from giving a salary of $40,000 to a member of your team?
  - herval 15y ago
    the contract. You can only take 350k pesos as a salary... and when u contract services, they ask you for some sort of proof if the value is suspiciously large. So you can TRY subcontracting a friend in US and paying him 40k USD, no problem. I wouldn't expect it to go through unnoticed, though...

Free lunch ? Or do they want equity ? Can't leave Chile for X years ? Must have headquarters there ?

by smogzer 15y ago

Free lunch ? Or do they want equity ? Can't leave Chile for X years ? Must have headquarters there ?

there's more discussion at http://www.quora.com/Startups-in-Chile/Would-you-develop-your-startup-in-Chile-if-the-Chilean-government-financed-your-company-with-40-000-USD http://www.quora.com/Startups-in-Chile/Would-you-develop-you... but in short there aren't that many catches - certainly no equity (i would guess that people here in chile realise 40k really isn't that much in american terms; the payoff is in the numbers and the culture, not taking a stake in your particular business) [edit: also, getting a visa here is not hard. you don't need to win that grant to come here. i arrived on a tourist visa (3 months, renewable to 6), got a job offer, and within a week of the offer had permission to work. and none of that was illegal. do bring some kind of certificate indicating your level of education, though(!)]

icey 15y ago
Could you share some of your experiences working in Chile? Where did you move there from? Did you already know Spanish? Have you enjoyed living & working there?
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- andrewcooke 15y ago
  [having problems with hn slow response] see http://www.quora.com/Hows-life-in-Santiago-Chile http://www.quora.com/Hows-life-in-Santiago-Chile for more background. i am here because my partner is a chilean academic with tenure here. in general, it's a good place to live. personally, i am not the most outgoing or relaxed person on the planet, and sometimes living in a different culture - and it could be any other culture - gets to me. but the only negative thing i can think of about living here is that the work culture in large companies (my first job) emphasizes hours over productivity. if i were coming here to run a startup i would use a more results-oriented working environment (i don't care if you work at home, but you fucking get stuff done) as an incentive. a lot of people really hate the enforced long hours. you need to speak spanish. but people will be friendly and tolerant when you screw up. you can learn while you are here. a chilean lover is as good a way to learn as any ;) PS - just thought of a negative (as i went outside). the winter air quality in santiago is terrible. if you have asthma you don't want to be coming here. another negative would be the differences in wealth, although i imagine that's more shocking to a european than an american (i have no idea why i am paying such low taxes compared to europe - why isn't more of what i earn being used to help the poorest people here?). PPS - some positives: good food (you have no idea how good a hot-dog can be); good beer (really - it's exploded the last few years with a bunch of micro-breweries); a more entrepreneurial attitude than europe; a more sane social attitude than the usa; low crime rate (despite what people here seem to think...)
  - bugsy 15y ago
    Should be noted, the taxes in Chile are not only lower than Europe, they are also lower than in the US unless you are a member of the ultra elite rich that has a team of tricky accountants who shuffle assets to remote islands to make sure you don't pay your share. How can they do it? Well they don't maintain a global imperialist war machine that costs trillions to maintain, nor do they give away trillions to criminal bankers.
    - andrewcooke 15y ago
      heh. that happens here too. i had someone come round trying to sell me some off-shore banking services here in chile. the "salesman" was the son of an english diplomat. i am from "normal" english stock. it was a socially uncomfortable meeting.
    - econgeeker 15y ago
      I don't have an authoritative source, but I recently read that Chile assesses: - Up to %40 income taxes - A form of social security taxes - taxes capital gains as income - %17 corporate taxes - %19 VAT Taxes (might have that and corporate reversed) and, the piece de resistance: - a %35 excise tax on taking money out of the country!
      - andrewcooke 15y ago
        tax on earnings are listed here - http://www.sii.cl/aprenda_sobre_impuestos/impuestos/imp_directos.htm http://www.sii.cl/aprenda_sobre_impuestos/impuestos/imp_dire... - and the 40% rate applies to earnings over $12,500 a month (it's banded). there are also incentives for investment that count against that (so you invest the money in a pension fund, say, then that lowers your effective wage for tax purposes, i think (not completely sure)). the 35% tax is described here - http://www.sii.cl/portales/inversionistas/imp_chile/impuesto_adicional.htm http://www.sii.cl/portales/inversionistas/imp_chile/impuesto... - and applies to earnings of people who don't live or have residence in chile. so it wouldn't apply to someone under this grant. also, it's not in addition to other taxes (so it's 18% over VAT, if that would have been charged - again, this is just from skimming the docs). [edit: you need to translate the fourth paragraph to understand the "additional" nature. here's a link in english http://www.thisischile.cl/frmContenidos.aspx?SEC=187&ID=1242&itz=&eje=Negocios http://www.thisischile.cl/frmContenidos.aspx?SEC=187&ID=... that says This tax applies to those who are neither residents nor residing in Chile and ranges between zero and 35% on total revenue depending on the type of income (e.g., for services, royalties, interest, transportation payments, insurance, capital gains, and dividend distributions). In the case of utilities, the “First Category” tax can apply as a credit towards the additional tax.] in general, chilean laws and taxes are all described online. you don't need to post uninformed speculation - you can search for the details. disclaimer: i just skimmed the links, and am no expert, so my summary may be incorrect.

iamelgringo 15y ago

$40k grant. Free as in beer. No equity. They want you to move to Chile for 6 months, and go to some events and meet some people while you're down there.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

almost 15y ago

Apparently there's a pretty horrible form to fill out, but that's about it. I know a couple of people out there at the moment and it sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

herval 15y ago

they get you 40k and u have to put in 4k from your own pocket (the 40k are in the form of reimbursements - u spend something, they give u back in the following month). U have to spend the 40k during the 6 months (can't spend it all in one month for instance) and of course, you have to spend it in business-related stuff, like salaries, software, marketing, etc (they won't reimburse coffee or if you buy a car!) The contract you sign is very clear: there are no strings attached apart from having to keep someone here for 6 months and presenting reports to get the reimbursements. So it's no "free lunch" - it's just a great example of what governments could (and should) be doing with their money. It fosters innovation, that alone is a huge return of investment for the country.. disclaimer: I'm in StartupChile's first class of 2011 (Novelo team from Brazil) and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I'd be here even if they offered ZERO dollars!

dmvaldman 15y ago
What's to stop you from giving a salary of $40,000 to a member of your team?
- herval 15y ago
  the contract. You can only take 350k pesos as a salary... and when u contract services, they ask you for some sort of proof if the value is suspiciously large. So you can TRY subcontracting a friend in US and paying him 40k USD, no problem. I wouldn't expect it to go through unnoticed, though...